A Timmins pioneer in online gaming that protects people with autism from being bullied is a featured speaker this month at a prestigious convention in New York City.
Stuart Duncan started a server for his version of Minecraft, called Autcraft, six years ago. It has safety features and close moderation to ensure that players aren’t bullied by other players who don’t have autism.
“On the 19th, I’m going to be in New York City at the 16th annual Games for Change Festival,” he relates, “where they showcase tech and games and stuff like that that will help people in developing countries, people with disabilities, all that sort of stuff to help improve people’s standard of living.”
Autcraft is Duncan’s full-time job. He has an autistic son, and the parents of other autistic kids voluntarily contribute subscription fees to keep it going.
He set up the server in 2013, in response to people with autism being bullied on Minecraft. Other players would kill their characters, wreck their buildings and so on.
Duncan says autism can mean you don’t have the social skills or other tools to respond calmly to harsh treatment even online.
“For kids with autism, it was heartrbreaking,” he says “It was like the worst thing ever. And of course, the more you react that, the more the bullies pick up on that. The more the bullies want to see how far they can push you.”
(Supplied by Stuart Duncan)